annual report - The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund

ARABIAN LEOPARD
Panthera pardus ssp. nimr
Critically Endangered
Republic of yemen
$25,000
ANNUAL REPORT 2010 PAGE 44
Red List Justification
Fewer than 200 leopards remain on the
Arabian Peninsula in three subpopulations.
In Yemen a confirmed subpopulation exists
in the Wada’a mountains 120 km north of
Sana’a; leopards may occur in four other
areas of Yemen.
ARABIAN LEOPARD
Panthera pardus ssp. nimr
Photo Credit: Barbara Settles
Research team monitoring Hawf Protected Area trail cameras
WITh FEWER ThAN 200
WILD ARABIAN LEOPARDS
REMAINING, EFFORTS TO
PROTECT ThEIR hABITAT ARE
CRUCIAL. USING CAMERA
TRAPS POSITIONED IN
REMOTE AREAS OF EASTERN
yEMEN, ThE GOAL FOR
tHe FoundAtion FoR
tHe PRoteCtion oF tHe
ARAbiAn leoPARd in
yemen IS TO PARTNER WITh
OMAN TO FORM ThE hAWF-
DhOFAR TRANSBOUNDARy
CONSERVATION AREA.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Purchase, place, and maintain camera
traps in the Hawf Protected Area to search
for an unconfirmed subpopulation of
Arabian leopard. Researchers interview
local residents, locate skulls, pelts, other
artifacts, as well as engage authorities to
establish the cross-border protected area.
RESULTS:
The project team has succeeded in proving
that the Arabian leopard still utilizes the
Hawf Protected Area, even though some
residents stated that the leopard had
disappeared from the area 10 years ago.
The presence of 10 mammal species and
numerous birds, including potential prey
species, has been documented giving the
project team preliminary data regarding
the carrying capacity of the area.
HOW THE MOHAMED
BIN ZAYED SPECIES
CONSERVATION FUND
HAS HELPED
“One cannot conserve an animal on the
basis of hearsay; you have to prove the
animals’ existence and the Mohamed bin
Zayed Species Conservation Fund has
enabled us to do this. Now that we have
proven that there are leopards in the Hawf
Protected Area we can use this information
to leverage more support for on the ground
activities in Hawf.”
‘’The Arabian leopard images have
generated a lot of interest in the
conservation of the species because
many people doubted their existence
here. We have been able to document the
existence of other animal species in the
Hawf Protected Area, as well. This gives us
a good idea of what prey species are here
and their abundance. This will allow us to
develop a strategy for leopard conservation
in the area.”
David Stanton
Foundation for the Protection of the
Arabian Leopard in Yemen
The images seen below captured in early
2011 are the first photographs ever
taken of a wild Arabian leopard in Yemen.
Photo Credit: Andre Pittet / Centre for Electronics
Design and Technology at the Indian Institute of
Science in Bangalore
ANNUAL REPORT 2010 PAGE 45